The present invention relates to a portable wringer and more particularly to a portable wringer for removing liquid from a wet leather, cloth or piece of fabric. It is especially intended for wringing water out of chamois leathers used for washing automobiles and other vehicles, but is not restricted to this purpose.
When washing water is removed from a vehicle using a leather, the leather has to be wrung out. When the operation is carried out by hand, it is difficult to obtain an even degree of dryness. At the same time it can cause chaffing of the hands and the leather can become stretched. Additionally, the wrung-out water can find its way to the clothes or feet of the user.
Clearly, therefore it would be advantageous to employ a mangle or wringer. However a fixed mangle would be inconvenient since it would necessarily be located at a distance from at least parts of the vehicle being washed and this would require the person washing the vehicle to walk back and forth to the mangle. Portable mangles have therefore been proposed and one such device is designed to clip over the window of vehicles for example as shown in FR-2571391. However, this device suffers the disadvantage that it can not be sufficiently rigidly attached to the window so that operation of the mangle causes the device to wobble. Also, the integrity of the window seal is compromised leading to a risk that water might enter the vehicle and mark the upholstery. Furthermore, the device is impractical if the vehicle is on a gradient since the device itself will be similarly inclined.
What is required, therefore, is a portable wringer that can be firmly and reliably attached to a vehicle without exposing the interior of the vehicle to the risk of leaks.
According to the invention, there is provided a portable wringer for removing liquid from a wet leather, cloth or piece of fabric, which comprises: a support structure; a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on the support structure; means for urging the rollers together towards a position in which the surfaces of the rollers would make mutual contact along their respective lengths; means for rotating at least one of the rollers; and a suction means attached to the support structure, the suction means being arranged to adhere to a smooth surface. A leather can therefore be passed between the rollers as they are rotated. The use of suction means enables the device to be attached to a vehicle window, without affecting the seal of the window.
Preferably, the rollers are cylindrical and are arranged with their axes in parallel and are preferably urged into mutual contact. They may comprise a rigid core coated with a layer of resilient material and preferably have spindles at each end, each spindle being supported in a bearing, the bearings being urged together by resilient means.
Preferably, one of the rollers is operatively connected to a crank handle, whereby the roller can be manually rotated. The other roller may then be free-running and will be driven by frictional contact with the roller which is manually rotated. This would, of course, normally occur via the leather which would be passed between the rollers. Preferably, the rollers are arranged to lie one above the other in use and the crank handle is operatively connected to the lower roller.
Alternatively, the rollers may be connected by gear arrangement or a chain or belt so that both rollers are driven. It is even possible for one or both rollers to be motor-driven for example using battery power. The battery may then be the vehicle battery.
Preferably, the device includes liquid catchment means arranged to receive liquid expelled from the leather by the rollers and an enclosure arranged to receive the leather as it leaves the rollers, in use. This minimises the risk of the liquid removed from the leather soiling the clothes or footwear of the user. It also ensures that the leather itself does not fall to the ground and become fouled with mud, dirt or grit. Preferably the liquid catchment means comprises a tray, the tray having one or more liquid discharge ports. Preferably, any discharge port is arranged to discharge the liquid in use in a direction away from the user. Alternatively, the liquid catchment means would comprise a temporary storage container for the liquid expelled from the leather; the container could be emptied periodically.
Preferably, the enclosure for the leather is located above the liquid catchment means and may include a deflector arranged to direct the leather away from the liquid catchment means in use. Preferably, the device includes a scraper located adjacent the upper and/or lower roller and arranged to lift a leather adhering to the surface of the respective roller. In a preferred embodiment, the scraper is located adjacent the upper roller and takes the form of a brush.
Preferably, the suction means comprises a single suction device though there may be a plurality. It preferably comprises a flexible disc having a central portion which is movable rearwardly from the plane of the disc in a direction towards the rollers by means of a cam arrangement. Preferably, the camming action of the cam arrangement is activated by a lever movable in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the disc. Preferably the lever swings in an arc above the level of the cam arrangement, the enclosure and the liquid catchment means, in use. Preferably, the cam arrangement has a cover extending into the enclosure, the cover being arranged to deflect the leather upwards as it leaves the rollers in use. Preferably, the wringer includes a manual engagement area at a position opposite to the suction means. Preferably, the manual engagement area is positioned opposite the centre of the suction device.
In a preferred embodiment, the suction means comprises: a flexible disc; a support member having a concave portion facing the disc; a camming arrangement on the opposite side of the support member to the disc; and a connecting member passing through the support member and connecting the disc to the camming arrangement, whereby operation of the camming arrangement moves the connecting member and draws the central area of the disc into the concave portion of the support member; and in which the camming arrangement includes first and second cam members which have engaging cam surfaces, the first cam member being movable in an arcuate path in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the disc.
This construction eliminates the need for any operative components in the area behind the camming mechanism, though this is not strictly essential and other arrangements of suction devices may be employed.
Preferably, the disc is made of rubber or a plastics material. Preferably the support member is in the form of a rigid circular cup of metal or plastics whose rim engages the rear surface of the disc and whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the disc. Thus, when the central area of the disc is drawn into the cup, the protruding outer periphery of the disc maintains contact with the surface of the article which is to be engaged by the suction device, and permits the suction device to adhere positively not only to flat surfaces but to curved surfaces also. The device is even applicable to surfaces which are curved in more than one direction, for example vehicle windows.
Preferably, the connecting member is a rod which is attached to the disc. Preferably, the camming arrangement includes an operating lever connected to and extending generally radially from the first cam member, whereby movement of the lever causes the first cam member to follow its arcuate path. Conveniently, the first cam member has an arcuate cam profile defining its cam surface while the second cam member is a cam follower and is connected to the connecting member. Alternatively, the first cam member may constitute the cam follower and the second cam member may define a stationary profiled cam surface.
Preferably, the connecting member is a square cross-section rod which passes through a correspondingly square shaped hole in the support member, and which is rigidly attached to the disc at one end, and which is non-rotatably attached to the second cam member. Cross-sectional shapes other than square may be used, though if the rod is to be prevented from rotating, a round cross-section is preferably avoided.
Preferably, the arcuate cam profile of the first cam member is coaxial with and extends about the rod, whereby an arcuate movement of the handle causes the arcuate cam profile to follow its arcuate path which in turn causes the cam follower to move in the axial direction without any rotation, thereby drawing the central area of the disc into the concave portion of the support member. In a preferred embodiment, the arcuate cam profile comprises a pair of similar ramps following part circular paths in the same sense and at the same radius, the paths extending between a low position and a high position, and in which the second cam member comprises a pair of bosses which constitute the cam follower, attached to a common base, the base being non-rotatably attached to the rod by means of a pin passing through both the rod an the base.
Thus, when the disc is in a relaxed condition, it is slightly spaced from the support cup and the bosses lie on the ramps at the low positions. As the lever is moved through its arc, the first cam member rotates with it, and the ramps follow their circular path. The bosses which are rotationally fixed, travel along their respective ramps from the low position to the high position and in so doing move the rod axially rearwards. This in turn draws the central area of the disc into the cup, so tending to form a vacuum between the disc and any smooth surface with which the disc may be in contact. The vacuum is then released by reversing the operation.
The suction means may include a cover over the camming arrangement, which may be detachably connected to the first camming member. The device may also include a compression spring acting between the rear of the disc and the inside of the support cup, the spring acting to bias the disc away from the support member.
Preferably, the surface of the support member which engages the disc is provided with one or more protuberances, the protuberances being arranged to deform the resilient material of the disc on engagement, thereby positively preventing any significant relative rotational movement between the disc and the support member. This is a very significant feature, because it is important that the wringer should be prevented from tilting or rotating to one side or the other.
The disc preferably has at its centre a rounded protrusion which serves several purposes. Firstly, when the suction device is offered up to a rigid surface to which it is to be attached, moderate pressure applied by the operator""s hand causes the protrusion to cause an initial slight dishing of the disc as the disc bears against the support member on an annular contact ring inboard of the extreme periphery of the disc. Further pressure causes the disc to be seated against the rigid surface to which it is to be attached. This seating may occur at the periphery of the disc (especially in the event of its meeting a convex surface) or in line between the support member and the rigid surface (especially if meeting a flat or flatter surface). The resultant contact of the disc at or near its periphery throughout 360xc2x0, plus the slight displacement (hollowing) of the xe2x80x9crubberxe2x80x9d disc, causes a small amount of air to be expelled resulting in a relatively negative air pressure between the disc and the surface. This minimal negative air pressure is however not sufficient to do more than seal the disc onto a flat or slightly curved rigid planar surface. With the initial sealing having been effected, however, when the centre of the disc is drawn back by operation of the lever, the negative air pressure will increase.
A second purpose of the protrusion is to avoid what may be termed xe2x80x9cphantom suctionxe2x80x9d such as may be experienced when the device is laid at rest on a flat surface.
A third purpose of the protrusion is to assist in removal of the device. If the protrusion were not present, there would be a potential that after reversing the action of the lever, some adhesion and/or residual suction might develop between the rubber disc and the rigid surface to which it was attached, and the device might stay adhering for a few second and then fall off. However, the protrusion helps to break the residual adhesion, so that when the lever is reversed, the device will detach under gravity into the control of the operator.
Preferably, the support structure comprises a pair of side walls, a base and an end wall, and in which the end wall carries the suction means, the sidewalls and base extend rearwards from the end wall in a direction towards the rollers, and the rollers extend between the side walls at a position spaced from the end wall. There may also be a cover partly surrounding the upper roller. Preferably, the cover constitutes optionally together with the upper roller itself, a carrying handle for the wringer. Preferably, the manual engagement area is constituted by a transverse wall portion located below the level of the cover.